BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Monday, July 30, 2012

What’s up, NBA fans?!!! Your very own NBA Champion,CoachErik Spoelstra is in Manila and
Gatorade is giving you exclusive access to a LIVE STREAM VIDEO CHAT with
himon the Gatorade Philippines
Facebook page!

Ten 10 lucky fans will also be
invitedto the actual LIVE CHAT to
meet Coach Spo in person take pictures with The Larry O’Brien trophy and get
cool Gatorade gear on SaturdayAugust 4 at The Marriott Hotel, Manila .Join now and fuel your thirst for Basketball with Gatorade
and The NBA!!!!!!!

Note: All
winners will be required to secure their own transportation to the venues to
attend or claim their respective prizes.

Promotion
begins on Monday, July 30 2012 at 12:01 am and will end on Wednesday, August 1
2012 at 11:59PM. Winners will be announced on the Gatorade Facebook page on
August 2, at 5:00pm and will be asked to email their contact details to ph.gatorade@gmail.comso they
can be notified how to claim their respective prizes. Winners who fail to
confirm their details by 12 pm on August 3, 2012 will be deemed to have
forfeited their prize. No substitutes will be selected.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

At the height of the first three-peat
wave of the Chicago Bulls during the early 1990s, Boston Celtics great Bill
Russell was asked of the feat of the team from the Windy City.

“Not much,” he succinctly answered. It
wasn’t meant as a sign of disrespect but merely because Russell’s Celtics won
eight straight titles and 11 of 13 championships available during his career.

After La Salle and NU beat Ateneo
during the summer tournaments, many said that the Blue Eagles were on the verge
being unseated and were clearly not their dominant self (somehow they
conveniently forget that in nine games in 10 days, Ateneo picked up the Fr.
Martin’s Cup after losing the FilOil Premier Cup).

When people asked me during the summer
what I made of the losses, I replied, “Not much.”

The only thing we have in common with
those guys in green from Boston is that we only make room for NCAA and UAAP
banners in the rafters of the venerable Blue Eagle Gym. Everything else can go
hang elsewhere.

And that leads to the first Ateneo-La
Salle encounter for Season 75. When I arrived at the Mall of Asia Arena,
several people (my colleague and batchmate Philip Sison is one of them) asked
me how I would call the game. I thought that LA Revilla will give us some
trouble but we will take away their strengths and win by 10 or more.

We sure did for a 71-61 victory –
there’s your double-digit margin -- and here’s why.

We
stopped their bigs.

A staple of their dribble drive
offense is having LA Revilla or Jeron Teng drive from either wing. Both Revilla
and Teng have quick first steps. If they beat their man and help arrives, they
shovel it to the middle to Norbert Torres or Yutien Andrada who slides in from
the weak side for a lay-up. Andrada has especially made a living off this.

The best way to counter this is either
deny the penetration or if unable to, then for someone to rotate over to the
cutter for the steal. The Green Archers were only able to get (by my count) two
points off this and this was in the fourth quarter.

Take a look at the production of La
Salle’s frontcourt players.

Papot Paredes and Ponso Gotladera
played nine minutes and combined for zero points and three rebounds.

In contrast, Blue Eagle center Greg
Slaughter who averaged 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in his first three matches,
scored 20 points but hauled down only seven boards. There’s a trade off you
definitely like if you root for the blue and white.

We
took away the confidence of Almond Vosotros.

I always thought that Almond Vosotros
was one of DLSU’s most fearless players. He’s a sparkplug who tries to help his
side by either scoring or by his hustle plays. Being the primary back up for LA
Revilla, his role is crucial because Mark Tallo is still feeling his way
around.

After a poor opener where he didn’t
score a point, the points guard came alive in La Salle’s next two games where
scored 5 and 8 points respectively.

As soon as Vosotros entered the court
with under two to play in the first quarter, Kiefer Ravena promptly stole the
ball from him for a fastbreak layup. Soon after, he had his layup blocked.
Although Vosotros had two steals of his own, he didn’t score a point. Tallo and
Thomas Torres made forgettable cameos where in five minutes of play both
committed one turnover each but contributed nothing more.

And that forced La Salle to play
Revilla for 32 long minutes.

Revilla isn’t the only Green Archer
starter to play that many minutes. Teng and Torres did as well.

Only two Blue Eagles played over 30
minutes – Slaughter and Ravena.

Well, aside from foul trouble, the
Blue Eagles’ bench mob played well too. They outscored La Salle 15-13 and every
single player contributed something to the collective effort be it a point,
rebound, assist, steal, block (the Green Archers fielded three players who were
not able to contribute anything to the stat sheet – Thomas Torres, Gotladera,
and Tallo).

We
forced a five-second inbound violation on Jeron Teng.

With 44 seconds left to play and the
score at 67-61 for Ateneo, Jeron Teng tried to inbound the ball from their side
of the court. Kiefer Ravena, who
had picked him up later in the match, sagged off while looking where the
receiver would come. Luigi dela Paz was covered by Juami Tiongson (who for the
first time had more turnovers than assists 3-1) while Tonino Gonzaga closely
guarded Revilla. Both dela Paz and Revilla were unable to shake off their
defenders and Ravena stepped back a bit to help out. Just before Teng could
throw it in, Ravena jumped back out forcing the La Salle rookie to keep the
ball five-seconds too long. Referee’s whistle. Five second-inbound violation.

Ateneo had its crucial stop. In fact,
in the fourth period, the Blue Eagles forced La Salle into seven turnovers
while scoring six points off them.

We
adjusted well to what La Salle was trying to do.

With their dribble drive offense
stopped, La Salle resorted to a familiar tactic – staggered screens to free up
a shooter. Heading into this match, La Salle was the worst from beyond the arc.
In an effort to control the lane, Ateneo somewhat (and inadvertently) conceded
the outside and La Salle hoisted up their biggest number of three-point
attempts so far with 18 (and they nailed four).

At the start of the game, the Blue
Eagles would weave their way above the screens. A La Salle switch later in the
game saw Ateneo once more adjusting by fighting under the picks to prevent
those pick and rolls.

We
saw Tonino Gonzaga put the late clamps on LA Revilla.

Remember that key moment when Rich
Alvarez guarded La Salle’s nigh unstoppable Mike Cortez in the 2002 Finals?
That was unexpected. Ditto when Emman Monfort stopped that scoring machine
known as RR Garcia in consecutive UAAP finals. You can add Tonino Gonzaga to
that honor roll with his late effort against the supremely talented LA Revilla.

It is no secret that Gonzaga has
thrived since being inserted in the starting five against NU. The graduating
swingman admits that he was sort of looking for his shot in the first few games
but he had a realization that he would be able to help his side more if he
committed to defense.

He picked up some early foul trouble
trying to stop the tank that is Jeron Teng. Playing a little more smartly, when
he returned to action, he stayed in Revilla’s face. The ace La Salle guard
didn’t score a point after the 7:43 mark of the fourth quarter. Even worse,
Revilla turned the ball over thrice in the game’s final minutes.

Zags didn’t score a single point but
he pulled down seven boards including a huge offensive carom with 1:50 left
that allowed Ateneo to chew off more precious seconds in the game clock.

The game looked to be headed for a
blowout but a series of unforced errors saw La Salle score some easy baskets
that got them back in the game. When they did take a lead, Ateneo re-took the
lead on the next possession. There were only two lead changes and that was
that. A masterful response to the challenge of an old foe. It’s one game and there’s still a long
way to go.

Four down and 10 to play.

-------------------

Check out the homepage of my blog bleachersbrew.blogspot.com for more Ateneo Blue Eagles stuff on my personal Drive for Five analysis series. I also work on material for other teams.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Good sportswriting is hard to find outside Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press, and the awesome dudes at espn.com. Time Magazine, while mostly featuring worldly stuff, occasionally features terrific profiles and stories of athletes and sports events. And the Olympics is one event that they have done a great job of reporting. The latest issue has about five different covers (three different ones in the United States alone with one for Europe/Africa and one for Asia (see image below). Purchased my copy the other day but began reading it late last night. Will finish it tonight then offer my two cents' worth. From what I read so far the research as well as the amount of detail is fascinating. That's what sets them apart from other media bureaus -- their attention to detail and reporting while retaining a literary flair.

If you like good sports writing and reporting then do yourself a favor and pick up this issue.

Posted by
Rick Olivares

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Years ago, I attended a practice of
Adamson at their campus gym. Alex Nuyles had a year of UAAP experience under
his belt and Rodney Brondial was serving his residency. Job de Leon was about
to begin his first year of courtside reporting for the Falcons after having
taken over the slot from Aaron Atayde.

Leo Austria took me aside and spoke
highly of Nuyles and said that the lad from Bicol had loads of potential. “He
will be a star one day,” said Austria. Knowing coach had an eye for talent, I
took his word for Nuyles.

I remember Brondial very well and as I
recall it, he was from Australia and had good skills but was still raw.

“Mayroon potential ‘tong team na ‘to,”
pronounced Austria. Not only was he a great evaluator of talent but also he had
the makings of a modern-day Nostradamus.

After falling flat in Season 74, the
team lost six players – Lester Alvarez, Jerick Cañada, Genesis Manuel, Janus
Lozada, Jan Colina, and Austin Manyara. Austria still had Nuyles for his final
year. There was bullstrong Eric Camson who could put up a ton of points one
moment but disappear in the next. Brondial had shown what he could do in Season
74 and no doubt could only get better. Roider Cabrera, I thought, was the
x-factor here. If he could score in the UAAP like he does in the pre-season
then opposing teams will not be able to key off on Nuyles, Camson and Brondial.
Ryan Monteclaro was definitely not made of the stern stuff of a Cañada or
Alvarez. But all he had to do for now is to be steady and then the Falcons would be a potent crew. You know. Like the 1986 Boston
Celtics. A starting five that could compete with the best of them and one sixth
man who can contribute. That’s it.

I wasn’t the very least surprised that
they hung tough against Ateneo for about 25 minutes as they still had that
carry over pride from beating the Blue Eagles in the final game of the second
round of Season 74. But Ateneo is a team that doesn't take loses lightly. They can't wait to repay foes back in spades. And that I think is something that Adamson has yet to learn or adopt. That killer and give-'em-no-quarter instinct.

Against the surprising FEU Tamaraws, a team that knocked them out of the title picture last season, I thought they'd come in with snorting nostrils and all. Well, the Falcons gamely battled them for a good 14 minutes before a spate of errors
and missed free throws allowed the Morayta-based team to put some space between
them at the half, 35-28.

I turned to Jan Colina (who I had
become pals with over the years and I did write a nice piece about him for Rebound) who sat behind the south basket of the Araneta
Coliseum. “Miss mo to, no?” I probed.

I turned to the court and noted of
this current edition of the Falcons. “Ang sama. Hindi ma-establish yung tempo
at yung gusto nilang laro. (both Colina and Cañada nodded in agreement). At
masama laro ni Alex.”

Heading into Season 75, knowing that
they were minus six of the crew that helped them to a great finish last year, I
felt that they would go only as far as number six (Nuyles) could take them this
season. I like the kid but I am not sure if he could strap this team on his
back. I remarked to Coach Leo two years ago that Alex would make a great pro
basketball player. “He has to be strong and focused every game,” intoned coach.

And that was not the Nuyles that was
playing right before me and everyone else. He scored only one basket and that
was in the first quarter. By the game’s end, there would only be two turnovers
next to his name in the official score sheet. But in truth, he should have been
tacked on with much more. He suddenly reverted to the unsure rookie that he was
years ago as he fumbled drives, drop passes, and his decision making. In the
Falcons’ final play, he was given the ball to do something with it. Instead, he
passed off to Camson. Truthfully, I wondered why he was kept on the floor.
Jericho Cruz will one day lead this squad in scoring but for now, he is what
Nuyles was during Season 71, a talented but unrefined player. I felt that Cruz
along with the equally talented but gangly Harry Petilos should have been on
the floor with Cabrera, Camson and Brondial.

Instead, the Falcons shot themselves
on the foot with Cabrera hoisting up three consecutive bricks without so much
as a conscience. That and the flubbed freethrows did them in (18-28 from the
15-foot line).

Had Nuyles even been one half of his
usual self then Adamson would have won this (he finished with five assists but
you have to watch the game to see how out of it he was). But instead, they
succumbed to a second straight defeat while the Tamaraws, getting heady plays
from their three-guard lineup of RR Garcia, Terrence Romeo, and Mike Tolomia
came through in the clutch. It was, incidentally, their third straight loss to the Tams after losing twice in last year's Final Four. Streaks. For sure the Falcons hate them.

And once more, the outcome came
down to the final shot but this time FEU got its largest winning margin of the
season --- three points, 65-62. But that’s not so bad considering they are 3-0.

I looked to Colina after the game. We
both shrugged. “Matagal pa naman,” he hoped.

Sure it is. But Adamson has yet to
play contenders DLSU, NU, and UST. Ouch.

The days of a Fernando Martin gushing
about the Americans’ basketball prowess are over.

If you don’t remember Martin, he was
the star of Spain’s basketball squad when they faced the United States of
America during the gold medal match of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. That was
the game where Michael Jordan, still a sophomore at the University of North
Carolina, wrote on a piece of yellow legal pad a message for then coach Bobby
Knight: “Coach, don’t worry. We’ve put up with too much shit to lose now.”
Knight forwent his pre-game speech and the US thrashed Spain 96-65 to win the
gold.

After that game, all Martin (who later
played 24 games for the Portland Trailblazers) could do was exclaim in halting
English, “Jordan… Jump, jump, jump. Very quick. Very fast.
Very, very good. jump, jump, jump." READ MORE

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I woke up this morning knowing I
wasn’t well. I felt weak and my joints, hot. Telltale signs that the flu that
I contracted the other day had not abated. But I had to get up because I
invited over an indie band to perform in my class.

As I normally do, I went online to
check my email and see what was new in the world today. And… and… Ichiro Suzuki
is a New York Yankee!

That was like penicillin, medicine or
what have you to make me feel a little better. I had to re-read what was before
me because it might have been a typo or some April Fool’s Day joke in August or
whatever the hell that is. But no. Ichiro Suzuki is really a New York Yankee. And with Jeremy Lin in Houston, Ichiro will be huge in the Big Apple as he attracts the Asian audience to the Stadium. How many marquee names do they have now - Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and now Ichiro Suzuki.

I thought of several things, Pops,
when I stopped hyper ventilating (that my dog thought I was going to walk her
that early in the day).

Here’s what I thought:

… Is the injury to Nick Swisher a lot
more serious than anyone thought? With Brett Gardner out that’s 2/3 of the
starting outfield that is out of the lineup. Thank God that Brian Cashman kept
Andruw Jones and got Raul Ibañez. Not since those great Yankee teams of the
1990s was there a team that I liked. Aside from Jeet, Andy, and Mo (the
oldtimers here), I like Swish, CC, Russ, Cano, Grandy, A-Rod, Eric Chavez, Tex
and well pretty much everyone. It’s like all my fave baseball players are in my
favorite baseball team.

As biased as we are for the Yanks, Pops, I have to confess that I do watch other teams – the Philadelphia
Phillies, the Oakland A’s, and the Seattle Mariners. I love Seattle. If I
weren’t a New York fan I’d root for the Mariners. If I don’t settle down once
more in New York I’d go to the Emerald City. But if Swish comes back where do
they place Suzuki? Is that a good problem for Joe Girardi?

But look at this, Pops. This is the
current batting order (without Brett and Swish):

Jeter (SS)

Granderson (CF)

Rodriguez (3B)

Cano (2B)

Teixeira (1B)

Ibañez (DH)

Jones (LF)

Suzuki (RF)

Martin (C)

That’s one baaad lineup.

… This is like getting Rickey
Henderson way back in those woebegone 80s when I said, “Well, there’s always
next year.” I still have that old Sports Illustrated issue with Henderson on
the cover that says, “Rickey’s a Yankee!” I thought that I had died and gone to
baseball heaven. The sport’s dangerous baserunner and leadoff hitter in
pinstripes? But that was about it. New York had good teams but never won the
World Series much more go to the playoffs wasting the careers of Dave Winfield,
Donnie Baseball and Henderson. They even had Steve Sax!

… Is this lightning in a bottle? Like Shane Spencer? Pops,
they called Shane, 'Roy Hobbs' after that character that Bernard Malamud wrote
about in "The Natural" and who was played by Robert Redford in the film
adaptation. He was a late season call up and he hit a bunch of homers that was
incredible to watch. Well, if the move from last place to first place
galvanizes Suzuki and he becomes his old dangerous self then wow! That’s danger
in the eighth spot of the batting order. But will he enjoy batting from there
because there’s no way he’s going to lead off or be in the top of the order
with the other guys still there. But aside from his rookie season where he won
the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Award and where he went to the
post-season, it has been nothing but disappointment for him and the Mariners
since. They’ve never been back.

I remember how Suzuki’s Mariners
eclipsed the 114-won games by New York with 116 of their own. But New York won
the World Series that year. This time he has a chance to compete for a World Series title and who knows what he can do?

… I thought with Suzuki in pinstripes
that makes how many former Mariners in recent years to play for our team, Pops?

After losing in 1995 (to Seattle) that
ended Don Mattingly’s career (I cried, pops), we brought in Tino Martinez from
the M’s to play Donnie’s old first base. It was like if we can't beat them then let's bring in one of the guys who beat us. But really, it was our time back then. You don't win four World Series in five years if the team isn't special. Anyways, Martinez became 'Tino Bambino' for his prodigious hitting exploits, right? I
wish you were still around to see our team turn things around and become a
dominant power like they were meant to be.

And there was Randy Johnson who joined
us when he was clearly done and not the guy who beat us in 2001. We did get Alex
Rodriguez and am so glad to be a part of that time when we urged him to
consider New York instead of Boston. We also got Freddy Garcia who is not the
pitching stud that he once was but has been good in pinstripes these past two
years.

We won with Tino and A-Rod. Hopefully, we can win it this year with Ichiro and Freddy.

… And lastly, I thought of you, Pops.
I miss you, Pops. It is because of you why I am a huge sports fan and am doing
what I love for a living. We played a lot of baseball when I was kid. You’d
take me to the park to play and work long hours on my pitching, fielding and
batting. I became a Yankee fan because of your great admiration for Mickey
Mantle, Bill Martin, Whitey Ford and all those guys. Every time I went to
Yankee Stadium I thought of you and said to myself, “We’re doing this, Pops.”

Ichiro is a Yankee. I hope that he
does well and Cash keeps him pinstripes until he retires. He might not go into
Cooperstown as a Yankee but he was with us for a while.

I have no idea if you can watch
ballgames up there. But I’m here, Pops. I'm here. I’ll write you again.

I miss and love you, Granddad. This is a good way to remember you on your death anniversary.

Rick

-----------

My grandfather was the one who
introduced sports to me. He was the one who brought me to the ballpark to play.
In my school annuals, you’d always find me with a mitt and a bat (if not vinyl
records). If anyone asks me what my favorite sport is, well, it’s baseball then
football. And then basketball and hockey. You think I’m good at calling a
football match, you should see it when I do baseball. Today is my granddad's death anniversary.

Photos by Elaine Thompson and Otto Greule. Thanks!

Posted by
Rick Olivares

Monday, July 23, 2012

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The man in charge of
Asian soccer, once a candidate to oust FIFA president Sepp Blatter as the
sport's leader, enriched himself and handed out hundreds of thousands of
dollars to friends and relatives, according to an audit obtained by The
Associated Press.

Mohamed bin Hammam, a 63-year-old Qatari whose life ban
from soccer was overturned in a sports court this week, is accused of using the
Asian Football Confederation bank accounts to conduct his private affairs.

The audit was prepared by the international accounting
firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and dated July 13. A copy of the report was
obtained by the AP. Its contents were confirmed by two people with direct
knowledge of the report who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hasn't
been made public.

The report offered rare details of the usually secretive
accounts of not-for-profit football bodies handling hundreds of millions of
dollars. And it portrayed a man who was running Asian soccer like a family
business, negotiating contracts on his own and mingling his personal and AFC
bank accounts.

The audit was especially critical of bin Hammam's use of
AFC accounts for personal expenses, although there was no evidence of direct
payments to bin Hammam.

"It is highly unusual for funds (especially in the
amounts detailed here) that appear to be for the benefit of Mr. Hammam
personally, to be deposited to an organization's bank account," the audit
said.

He received millions of dollars from individuals linked
to AFC contracts, according to the audit, and spent tens of thousands of
dollars on items like a honeymoon for his son and dental work, haircuts and
cash payments for his family.

It found he spent $700,000 from AFC coffers on himself
and his family, including $100,000 for his wife, $10,000 on a Bulgari watch for
himself and nearly $5,000 for his daughter's cosmetic dentistry.

Payments were also made to Asian, African and Caribbean
soccer officials, including $250,000 to Jack Warner, the longtime strongman of
Caribbean soccer.

"The arrangement with Mr Hammam's use of the sundry
debtors account is, in our view, highly unusual and reflects poor
governance," the audit said. "This use by Mr Hammam of the sundry
debtors account continued even after the external auditor's recommended that it
be stopped. Our review indicates that it was common belief that this account
was for Mr Hammam personally and all funds flowing through it were his personal
monies.

"We question why Mr Hammam would conduct his
personal financial transactions through the AFC's bank accounts when the
documents we have seen indicate that he already has several personal bank
accounts in various countries," the audit said.

The Asian governing body, which he has led since 2002
was advised to seek "legal advice in respect of ... whether the actions of
Mr. Hammam, and other parties identified in this report, constitute criminal
and/or civil breaches." Bin Hammam was suspended for 30 days by the AFC
following receipt of the report last week.

Bin Hammam was not available for comment. His U.S.
lawyer said the allegations were a FIFA tactic to block his return to world
soccer.

"If there were ever any question about the
political motives behind FIFA's vendetta against Mr. Bin Hammam, it has been
answered by the outrageous and baseless new charges that FIFA and AFC are
bringing against him," lawyer Eugene Gulland said in a statement.

The audit found that a contract for commercial rights
with World Sports Group and its subsidiary World Sports Football were no-bid
contracts that were "considerably undervalued." A $14 million payment
from companies with stakes in WSG, Al Baraka Investment and Development Co. and
International Sports Events Company, was made to the AFC for the "personal
use of its president," the report said.

Bin Hammam also approved several lucrative, no-bid
contracts for commercial rights, including one for Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera
Satellite Network.

The audit said its review of the AFC accounts found that
it routinely handed out tens of thousands of dollars in cash to federation
presidents and their relatives. Most of it went to their personal bank accounts
and none of it was for soccer-related expenses, it said.

Gaurav Thapa, whose father heads the Nepalese
federation, received $100,000 while Filipino soccer official Jose Mari Martinez
received $60,000 and had $11,226 in hospital expenses paid. Another $50,000
went to East Timorese soccer official Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, the audit found.

Another $25,000 went for tuition expenses for a
Bangladesh soccer federation spokesman and $20,000 to cover the cost of cancer
treatment for the federation's general secretary.

Also, nearly $2,000 was spent by bin Hammam to buy 14
shirts for Blatter and nearly $5,000 went toward the purchase of suits for Issa
Hayatou, the CAF president.

The acting head of the AFC called for an end to spending
abuses.

"I think this development also makes one thing very
clear to all of us -- there is no place for unethical practices anymore in
AFC," Zhang Jilong said in his opening address Thursday to an executive committee
meeting. "I ask this (committee) to prevent any abuse of power and misuse
of privileges by any office bearer."

Copyright 2012 by The
Associated Press

------------------------------

Here are some of the articles I wrote while fighting the PFF years ago:

Gave some extra work for some of my Ateneo students by asking them to attend the presscon for the One Fighting Championship. This is the third straight year where I had my students attend sporting events (PBA, Azkals, and now One FC).

For this, I had them interview the fighters and blog more about the experience. The actual interview stories will be done this week.

Games can be won or lost on a single
play. Athletic events are difficult to pigeon hole. There are ebbs and flows,
momentum shifts, or even matches when one team has complete domination.

As the Ateneo Blue Eagles entered the
game against title-contender National University in a huge game as they were
coming off a loss to UST, I wondered where the team that ran great FEU squads
to the ground or dusted off UE, UST, and Adamson who dared to tug on Ateneo’s
cape had gone.

This match, the third in a week’s time
for the Blue Eagles, was a huge litmus test. They had run the gamut of
contending teams one after the other while others seemingly have the easier
route.

There were all sorts of questions
heading into this game. But at the final buzzer, they had answered adversity.
And here’s how…

Opening
tip to 9:37 of the 1st Quarter:

If you were wondering how Ateneo would
respond to the disappearance of its free flowing passing game then they
answered it right here in the opening play.

Greg Slaughter won the jump ball and
Juami Tiongson secured the ball. Tiongson, who has been superb at the one spot
this season, passed off to Nico Salva who in turn dumped the leather to
Slaughter. Still probing the defense, the Blue Eagles’ mammoth center threw the
ball back out to the kid they called 'Magic" (back in high school) who immediately swung the ball to the left to Kiefer
Ravena. The sophomore guard then threw the ball inside to a cutting Tonino
Gonzaga, who started for the first time this season. The ball, however, had too
much mustard on it and the graduating swingman had no shot. Gonzaga saved the
ball from going out of bounds and dropped it out to Tiongson who set himself at
the right corner pocket. Bang. Three ball in.

All five players touched the ball in
seven passes. They stretched NU’s defense and the rotation -- Magic's opposite number Gelo Alolino – was a
tad late.

Ateneo finished the game with 24
assists. That was nine more than NU and eight more than their total in the UST
game. In their first two matches, the Blue Eagles had two players in double
figures for each game. After the win over NU, they had four – Salva 21, Ravena
17, Slaughter 14, and Chua 12.

See what happens when you share the
wealth?

3:14
1st Quarter

At the 4:07 mark, Ray Parks connected
on a triple that brought down Ateneo’s lead to four 17-14. The champs came back
with a Gonzaga layup off a drop pass by Slaughter. Parks threw up another three
but missed. After another defensive stop, Salva found Ravena streaking forward
with Parks the only player holding the fort for NU. Last year’s Rookie of the
Year pumped on his drive and baited last year’s MVP who grazed his arm. The
shot went in. And one.

Actually, it was more of an and-two
for following Ravena’s made free throw, the officials correctly reviewed that
Parks’ earlier trey was a two-pointer as he stepped on the line. So it was like
a four-point play. Couple with the Gonzaga bucket, the lead was 22-13. The
four-point lead was the closest NU would come to Ateneo as the lead
ballooned.

Talk about answering a run with one of
their own.

At
the buzzer to end the first half

Both Slaughter and NU’s Emmanuel Mbe
are arguably two of the league’s best big men. Mbe was nearly MVP two years ago
but the award went to FEU’s RR Garcia by a slim margin.

While both squads have talented guards
and forwards, how Ateneo and NU ultimately fare is where their big men take
them.

In the first half, the two redwoods
went at each other. Slaughter had 12 points on 6-9 shooting to go with 9
boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. Mbe on the other hand only compiled
10 points and 3 rebounds. But the Cameroonian missed three shots against
Slaughter.

With time running down in the half,
Mbe attempted a jumper but missed. In the final offensive of the half, Slaughter
showed his counterpart how its done when he hit a buzzer beater to give Ateneo
55-34 lead.

How big was the shot by the Big Fella?

Big. Plenty big.

At
the buzzer to end the third quarter

The game featured two of the best
coaching minds in the country today in Ateneo’s Norman Black and NU’s Eric
Altamirano. Both had won titles in the PBA as players and as coaches.

At the start of the game, the plan was
to force Parks to pass the ball to his teammates by sending Slaughter out to
the perimeter to harry him. NU was quick to adjust by having the wingmen attack
and find teammates for drop passes; you know, very much how like La Salle does
it. Once Ateneo shut down that option, Parks began to post up his guard and he
got away with a lot of points from inside and the free throw line.

Midway through the third quarter, NU
went on an 8-0 run to cut Ateneo’s lead to 61-44.

Gonzaga doused cold water on the rally
with a deadeye trey to bring up the lead once more to 64-44. The Bulldogs
refused to give up the fight and brought the lead back down to 15.

With the seconds slipping away from
the third quarter clock, Ryan Buenafe, hit Ateneo’s fourth and last triple of
the game. It was at the buzzer and for a 72-54 lead.

Buenafe would finish the game with
only three points but he also pulled down 5 rebounds and dished off 3 assists.

His trey was huge because it swung the
momentum back to Ateneo for the start of the fourth quarter.

Another rally squelched.

4:51
4th Quarter

Theoretically there is still a lot of
time left with 4:51. But with the lead at 81-57, if you didn’t get a few quick
licks in the next minute then maybe it was time to throw in the white towel and
fight for another day.

There was no basket made at this
point. It was actually a turnover as Juami Tiongson was whistled by the referee
for an eight-second backcourt violation.

Earlier in the game, the Ateneo
coaching staff was seen on several occasions to urge their guards to bring up
the ball quickly because they went into attack mode with seven seconds left in
the shot clock. You do not get much of a high percentage shot with the shot
clock winding down.

Tiongson has ably stepped into the
shoes of the graduated Emman Monfort. While the booming treys have not been
there, he has more than made up for it with his solid quarterbacking.

In this match, Ateneo had more
turnovers as compared to NU, 15-11. But perhaps the most glaring TO was
Tiongson’s backcourt violation.

You see, up to that point, Tiongson’s
assists to turnover ratio was 6.3 to zero. But of course, nothing is perfect in
this world and the Blue Eagles’ point guard did score eight huge points
including Ateneo’s first six points to get the party started.

Hey, Ateneo. You have a legit point guard! Take a look at how Magic stacks up to the best of the league (per game):

Juami Tiongson, Ateneo: 26 minutes, 19 assists and
1 turnover

Gelo Alolino, NU: 25.5 minutes, 13 assists and 3
turnovers

RR Garcia, FEU: 34 minutes per game, 11 assists and 4
turnovers

LA Revilla, DLSU: 31 minutes per game, 10 assists and 9
turnovers

Jeric Fortuna, UST: 32.5 minutes per game, 8 assists and 4
turnovers

It’s not just all about key baskets
but also key stops and answering runs with one of your own. That all added up
to a 89-65 win that sent the Bulldogs crashing back to earth after their
45-point romp over a punchless UE squad on opening day.

It was the best way to bounce back after
the loss to UST and at the same time, what a way to get ready with La Salle
around the corner.

Three down and 11 to go.

----------------------

In the comparative stats between Juami and his counterparts, other guards have different roles on their team. Like RR Garcia alternately runs the offense alongside Mike Tolomia and Terrence Romeo.

Here is my other piece on the same Ateneo-NU game that appears on ateneo.edu.

For other stories on Ateneo's Drive for Five, please check out bleachersbrew.blogspot.com